by admin on December 11, 2009
I went to the book launch of “And What Do You Do?: 10 Steps to Creating a Portfolio Career” by Barrie Hopson and Katie Ledger a couple of weeks ago. The book is a guide to anyone who wants to explore having two or more ‘jobs’.
Having now read the book (it’s great by the way – very practical and full of examples and stories) there were a few of things that struck me.
Firstly how technology has enabled more people than ever to have portfolio careers. Katie and Barrie are bang up to date in their exploration of this, from the practical delivery of work to marketing yourself using social media.
Secondly, that while anyone of any age can be attracted to a portfolio career, there is some evidence that younger workers (Generation Y) are more comfortable with the idea of finding ‘clients’ to sell their skills to, rather than looking for just one job. I guess this is a result of seeing work more as something to do, rather than a place to go – a hang up that Generation X and the baby boomers find harder to shake off. This combined with the changing world of work and more enlightened companies benefitting from the flexibility this provides suggests this may become far more the norm.
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by HongBerry66 on October 30, 2009
We’ve been doing a lot of work with investment banks recently. A common feature within all of them, is that they all ban (or at the very least severely limit access to) facebook and other social networking sites, usually on the grounds of ‘productivity’.
The ‘banning’ of course is done by senior management, mostly Gen X or babyboomers.
Working with these groups, most would agree that an organisation has three types of ‘capital’ it can draw upon, and which help add to its ‘value’. These are:
- Financial (money and assets)
- Human (talent and skills)
- Social or Network ( connections with others, whether they be colleagues, partners, consumers or just ‘contacts’ which have some value)
To a Baby-boomer and, to large extent a Gen Xer like me, this network capital is represented by a contacts list or address book. It’s who you have lunch with, who you can pick up the phone up to or who you might know at a social or business function.
But for Gen Y (and increasingly Gen X through networks such as LinkedIn) this is now also represented by online social networks.
So why ban facebook when it increases social/network capital which we know has considerable, even if intangible, value to an organisation? It’s illogical and I think the true reason is poor performance management.
If organisations truly manage outcomes, then why should they care if someone uses facebook for two hours a day? You never know, your organisations next big deal/idea/strategic relationship might just come from within these networks.
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by SimonWalker on July 17, 2009
There’s been lot’s in the press recently about 300,000 people in the UK graduating this year into one of the toughest job markets for a long time. (Sunday Times – Graduates face the toughest tests)
Most of the time we work with employers, but what practical help is out there for graduates?
This led us to Tanya de Grunwald and her excellent book ‘Dude, where’s my career? : A guide for baffled Graduates’.
The book focuses on helping ‘normal’ graduates (what Tanya calls ‘the baffled’) who haven’t put much (or any) thought into their career planning and certainly haven’t had a master plan to become president of the universe since they were 6 years old.
Looking back, I’d firmly put myself in that category when I graduated.
And the truth is that these normal, ‘baffled’ graduates , are the backbone of most organisations and hugely valuable, if only they can find the right career to play to their strengths and are allowed to grow and flourish.
What we really love about the book however, is the ‘emotional support’ approach Tanya takes. Most graduate careers help just focuses on the (important) nuts and bolts – like writing a great CV, but not on helping people understand what really makes them tick, how to get motivated and importantly how to deal with the inevitable knock backs. Dude gives this support in a highly practical and accessible way.
If you know one of this year’s 300,000, buy them a copy of Dude or take a look at Tanya’s blog.
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by admin on April 29, 2009
Over the past six months we have been keeping a close eye on Gen Y’s attitudes to the recession. Here is an article that I wrote summarising our findings.
As you might expect, Gen Y’s values are not changing, but, in some cases, their behaviour is. Some of them are saying that, before the credit crunch, they may well have left their jobs before finding another one. now they are staying put. They are still expecting and hoping that their employers will continue to help them learn and develop though. Those that don’t may well find that they will lose some of their good people when the economy starts to pick up.
J Walter Thompson, the ad agency, have recently done some research into anxiety levels amongst young people. It is worth a read. Whilst 46% of the UK respondents agreed with the statement ” My generation is being dealt an unfair blow because of this recession” some of them believe that the recession actually provides them with an opportunity:
27% agreed with the statement: ‘My friends are doing interesting and entrepreneurial things to make money’
27% agreed with the statement: ‘If I lose/have trouble finding a job I’ll just start my own business’
44% agreed with the statement: ‘The current situation with housing prices actually makes me feel optimistic about buying a home’
The research also asked teenagers what they would be prepared to give up. They would rather give up shopping for clothes, eating out and entertainment than be disconnected from their online technologies. 90% said they would be bothered about giving up the internet and 81% said they would be bothered about giving up their mobile phone.
Advertisers and their clients are staying closely tuned to how people are feeling and what they want as customers and consumers. Halifax bank’s recent TV ad campaign is clearly an attempt to communicate that they care about their customers and want to help.
I think it’s always worth employers watching what the ad industry are saying and how they advising their clients – it’s in their interest to really keep tabs on changing attitudes and help their clients to respond. Employers are employing consumers so insight from the advertising world is worth having I would say.
Sally
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by admin on March 4, 2009
I haven’t posted for a couple of weeks as I have been finishing writing my latest book.
This is the second book I have written in close collaboration with someone from another generation. The first, ‘Management F/Laws’ was a book I co-authored with Russ Ackoff in 2006 when he was 87 years old. Anyone who has studied organisations and how they work will know Russ’s distinguished work. I was fortunate to work with him on the book and on a mini-lecture tour of the UK.
When the publisher suggested that the book became a ‘dialogue’ between the generations Russ welcomed the idea. Many men his age might have been indignant at the idea that a woman less than half his age take up half the book responding to and, at times, disagreeing with his views. Not Russ. He is a man who is up for lively debate and dialogue. And he is the best kind of mentor – challenging, questioning, interested and interesting, Apart from being a privilege and a lot of fun, it was one of the best learning experiences I have had in a long time. Working with an American man of his generation and wisdom taught me so much about lots of things including about organisations and what is possible (he has done some incredibly inspiring consultancy work in all sorts of contexts)and about really listening to and understanding other perspectives. Russ is very generous with his wisdom and was a fantastic role model of what a mentor can be.
So, when I began to write my latest book about Generation Y (sorry no link available yet) I thought it would be great to repeat the experience of cross-generational collaboration. I asked one of my Gen Y mentors if he would review the book and write the preface. What a humbling experience. Sure he was supportive, generous with his feedback and encouraging. However, he also challenged me hard on some of my thinking, he pointed out my prejudices and made me realise that at times I fell into the very trap that I help my clients not to fall into – one of stereotyping and making assumptions. Agggh! I found myself wondering if Russ had ever flinched as I did sometimes upon hearing my young colleague’s feedback!
One of the reasons I love writing is because it is a chance to really immerse myself in and reflect upon a subject. I am sure that I learned so much more writing these two books because of the presence of Russ and Ed respectively. Apart from that, it was more enjoyable too. Both books are definitely better for having two generations involved.
So, whatever your work, if you are thinking about finding yourself a mentor from another generation – go for it!
Sally
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